Belarus’ PM claims to strike $85-million deals with Nicaragua

July 19, Pozirk. Belarus and Nicaragua have signed contracts worth $85 million, pioneering Belarus’ major projects in Central America, the Belarusian government’s press office reports. 

Prime Minister Raman Hałoŭčanka, currently in Managua, described the deals as “a real breakthrough.”

“A batch of Belarusian trucks is expected to be delivered to Nicaragua any day now,” he said. “Today’s signing of agreements and bank contracts will also mark the launch of a large project to supply more than 700 units of Belarusian-made equipment to the brotherly Nicaragua.”

Minsk would consider Managua’s request to host Belarusian machinery production and export it to other countries in the region, Hałoŭčanka told Laureano Ortega Murillo, who advises Nicaragua’s president on investment and trade.

Belarus is interested in importing fruit, coffee, cocoa beans and seafood, Hałoŭčanka said, proposing to expand cooperation in agriculture, healthcare, pharma and IT sectors.

Belarusian prime minister is visiting Nicaragua as a part of his Latin America tour. He has already been to Venezuela and Cuba.

The authoritarian-governed Nicaragua is one of the few allies of Belarus at the United Nations. Last year, both voted against a General Assembly document condemning Russia for its war against Ukraine.

Later, both countries also voted against a resolution on the human rights situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

The Belarusian embassy in Cuba, also responsible for relations with Nicaragua, has recorded a decline in bilateral trade since 2017. It amounted to about $1.2 million in 2021 and comprised mostly Belarusian exports.